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/ 17 October 2007
A scathing document detailing in the strongest terms South Africa’s inability to stage the 2010 Soccer World Cup, which supposedly emanated from the Union of European Football Associations (Uefa), was on Tuesday denounced as a forgery by local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan. ”We have written confirmation of this from Uefa itself,” said Jordaan.
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/ 17 October 2007
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng on Wednesday criticised Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang for threatening to take action against nurses who placed babies in a cardboard box at Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, the party said. DA spokesperson Jack Bloom accused Tshabalala-Msimang of a display of ”arrogance and an evasion of blame”.
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/ 17 October 2007
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Wednesday that it had struck a double-digit wage deal with platinum miner Lonmin. The trade union said it had signed a new two-year wage agreement with Lonmin that would see workers getting 10% in the first year and 8% in the second year.
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/ 17 October 2007
South Africa’s retail trade sales picked up again in August, increasing by 6,9% year-on-year, in comparison to July’s 4,9% year-on-year rise, according to data released by Statistics SA on Wednesday. Total retail sales at constant 2000 prices reached R24,5-billion in August, up from R24,1-billion in July 2007.
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/ 17 October 2007
The JSE was over 200 points in the red by midday on Wednesday, as the United States consumer slowdown continued to weigh on Wall Street and the weakness spilled over onto global markets. However, some indices posted gains, even though the broader all-share index was down.
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/ 17 October 2007
A strike by 2 000 workers at Sasol, the world’s biggest maker of fuel from coal, entered its fourth day on Wednesday, reducing coal output at its mines, but fuel production was unaffected. The workers, a third of the workforce at the mines, downed their tools on Friday at the five coal mines in Secunda.
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/ 17 October 2007
The struggling global trade negotiations are looming large over a South Africa-India-Brazil summit this week, after the United States said the developing countries were putting the talks in peril by refusing to open up their manufacturing markets. The three countries came together around 2000 to strengthen ties between developing countries.
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/ 17 October 2007
Toxicity results from the United States have raised concerns over last month’s explosion in the Durban Bluff area, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday. The containers in the Island View Storage facility possibly contained paraffin, alcohol, solvents and cresol.
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/ 16 October 2007
Western Cape police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Tuesday scoffed at claims that police are about to arrest Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker. ”We wish to state that there is no truth in reports that [they] will be arrested and/or be brought before court this week,” NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said.
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/ 16 October 2007
A senior Fifa official gave his seal of approval on Tuesday to South Africa’s preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, playing down concerns about stadium construction after a recent strike. ”I am satisfied with the general preparations,” Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke said.
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/ 16 October 2007
The ”crisis” caused by proposed fee hikes at two Johannesburg universities this month should be handled by the Ministry of Education, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday. ”We urge the Ministry of Education to intervene in the current negotiations at the University of Johannesburg and Wits,” Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said.
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/ 16 October 2007
Despite having a battalion of 43 players at his disposal, Orlando Pirates coach Owen da Gama faces a dilemma as his team prepare for a Premier Soccer League game against Bloemfontein Celtic on Friday night. Pirates captain Lehlohonolo Seema, Lebohang Mokoena, Kelebogile Mabe and Bheki Khumalo could miss Friday’s clash.
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/ 16 October 2007
Political parties on Tuesday paid tribute to outgoing Democratic Party MP Douglas Gibson, who is leaving Parliament to take up a post as South Africa’s ambassador to Thailand. The African National Congress said despite the fact that Gibson had previously said things that offended its MPs, it would always respect his courage.
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/ 16 October 2007
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A candidate to succeed Thabo Mbeki as African National Congress (ANC) president has not yet been selected by the ruling party’s Women’s League. The ANC Women’s League on Tuesday condemned media reports indicating that it had thrown its weight behind Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in the presidential race.
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/ 16 October 2007
The National Union of Mineworkers has approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to arbitrate in a wage dispute with Bombela Civils Joint Venture, the principal contractor on the Gautrain project. NUM spokesperson Bhekani Ngcobo said the union lodged papers with the CCMA on Monday.
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/ 16 October 2007
African National Congress chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota in the National Assembly on Tuesday defended the decision to suspend National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, as well as the police probe into the alleged theft of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s health records.
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/ 16 October 2007
Murder victim Inge Lotz broke down in tears on the morning of her murder, her former boyfriend, Fred van der Vyver, who is accused of killing her, told the Cape Town High Court on Tuesday. Van der Vyver took the stand after an apparently precedent-setting ruling by Judge Deon van Zyl, which allowed the defence to reopen its case when final arguments were already under way.
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/ 16 October 2007
The upcoming summer season will have unusual weather conditions, and farmers need to have contingency plans, the Agriculture and Land Affairs Department said on Tuesday. Spokesperson Steve Galane said wet and warm conditions are expected over South Africa’s summer rainfall areas.
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/ 16 October 2007
Eritrea has taken over from North Korea as the country in the world where press rights are least respected, the Paris-based campaigning group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said on Tuesday. North Korea and Turkmenistan are runners-up in RSF’s annual poll of shame of 169 countries.
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/ 16 October 2007
The accident at the South African National Defence Force’s Lohatlha training grounds last week happened immediately after technicians had finished repairing the weapon, a Mark V twin-barrelled 35mm gun, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
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/ 16 October 2007
One man died and another was left critically injured when three trucks collided on the N1 highway before the Golden Highway offramp on Tuesday afternoon, Johannesburg metro police said. Spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said two combination trucks and an eight-tonne truck were involved in the accident.
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/ 16 October 2007
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said on Tuesday that the bank expected inflation to peak in February 2008 and then gradually come back to the bank’s 3% to 6% target range. Mboweni said in a speech in Johannesburg that economic growth of above 4,5% was contributing to inflation.
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/ 16 October 2007
Barriers affecting trade between countries in the southern hemisphere were much greater than those in the northern hemisphere, Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa said in Johannesburg on Tuesday. In addition, reducing trade tariffs in countries where industrial development was still under way ran the risk of exacerbating unemployment, he said.
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/ 16 October 2007
Lawyers acting for Chris Hani’s killers said they would proceed with an application to the high court, asking it to compel President Thabo Mbeki to make a decision on their application for a presidential pardon. Janusz Walus and Clive Derby-Lewis unsuccessfully sought amnesty from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1999 for the 1993 assassination of Hani.
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/ 16 October 2007
Leaders of South Africa, Brazil and India meet this week to bolster an alliance that is challenging the United States and Europe for access to resources in the developing world and influence on the global stage. The three leaders have joined forces to ease the reliance of Asia, Latin America and Africa on trade with northern-hemisphere economies.
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/ 16 October 2007
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Former president Nelson Mandela will give the Rugby World Cup final in France a miss on Saturday, his spokesperson Zelda la Grange said. ”Because of his age, it is very difficult for Madiba to undertake long trips,” she told the South African Press Association on Tuesday.
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/ 16 October 2007
A Durban hospital cleaner accused of dealing in human body parts appeared at the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, covering her face from the public gallery. Hloniphile Jeaneth Sokhela (32) is accused of contravening the Human Tissue Act after police allegedly found human body parts and a placenta in her possession.
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/ 16 October 2007
Gauteng provincial safety and security minister Firoz Cachalia should probe the harassment of two Johannesburg photographers, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. This comes after two photographers from the Star had their equipment confiscated by police in Johannesburg’s Diagonal street.
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/ 16 October 2007
The Department of Education is looking to regulate the responsibilities of senior teaching staff during strikes, says Education Minister Naledi Pandor. ”Currently, I have no plans to declare teaching an essential service,” she said in written reply to a question in the National Council of Provinces by Motlatjo Thetjeng of the Democratic Alliance.
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/ 16 October 2007
The opening of the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to public transport and cars carrying more than three passengers was hailed as a success by Gauteng provincial minister for public transport, roads and works Ignatius Jacobs on Tuesday.
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/ 16 October 2007
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang plans to speak out about media allegations that she is an alcoholic and a kleptomaniac. ”When the time comes this minister will speak out,” Tshabalala-Msimang said at a press conference at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto on Tuesday.
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/ 16 October 2007
Chief executive of Pick ‘n Pay Nick Badminton told analysts in Cape Town on Tuesday that although food was often the last to be affected by inflation, "we feel that it will be a little tight in the next six months". He said that internal inflation within the group was showing a 7% increase for the full year, but warned that August showed inflation at 9,5%.